


a little bit of trust

by pheonix85



Series: fall together [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Reveal, Light Whump, Pre-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2020-01-31 15:06:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18593746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pheonix85/pseuds/pheonix85
Summary: Peter Parker has a lot going on. Between school, his Aunt and acquiring superhuman abilities, he hasn't really had time for much else.turns out, neither has Tony Stark. And Peter couldreallyuse his help, but can't be too sure if telling Tony is the right thing to do either.Life has a way of working that out.





	a little bit of trust

**Author's Note:**

> i've had like 90% of this one-shot written since before I finished the first story, so i'm pretty stoked to get it posted. as I've said on other parts, this is part of the fall together series, and you should probably at least read the first part before getting into the rest of it. title is from the james vincent mcmurrow song "we don't eat"

**May 2016 - 3 months before Civil War**

 

Peter had elected to take the subway home from school instead of the bus.

 

Ned was on the same route as he was, but the subway was quicker, which meant he could get his homework wrapped up early and go patrolling. It was Thursday, which meant busy but not as busy as the weekend. And since he was new at this still, he wasn’t quite to what Saturday night levels might be.

 

And. His Aunt was working the night shift tonight. She’d already be gone when he got home. 

 

His mind wandered as the train shuttered at stops then sprung back to life on its way to Queens. He couldn’t believe the ways his life had changed in the past couple of months. Couldn’t believe that it had only been a couple of months since the field trip in February when he’d gotten bitten and everything had changed. Couldn’t believe he was a literal superhero who was on the news and had over a 100k hits on YouTube.

 

He tried not to feel too proud of himself. Humility was important. He certainly wasn’t the strongest or the fastest or the best (that title belonged to Thor, of course). It wasn’t how Tony handled himself, that was for sure.

 

He frowned to himself, messing with his phone to change his music and get his mind off that track. He hadn’t seen Tony Stark in _months_. Tony had been living back in the city for a couple of years now. They still hung out occasionally, but it was always a dinner here or a brief visit to the lab there and it wasn’t usually for very long. He’d thought the man was supposed to have given up Iron Man, but it seemed like every time he wanted to hang out with him, Tony was off doing something with the Avengers, and between that and Pepper and the company, Peter wasn’t seeing nearly as much of his friend as he would have hoped. 

 

Maybe Tony was avoiding him.

 

He’d first suspected it right after the New York stuff had happened. The Battle of New York had been, admittedly, devastating. And Tony had come by shortly after to check in with he and May and make sure they were alright. Peter had known he was Iron Man, he'd been Iron Man for a long time at that point, but Iron Man had never almost died in the way that Peter had watched from the streets below, only blocks away from the tower, huddled in a diner whose windows had blown out.

 

Peter was embarrassed now but he'd cried and thrown his arms around the man. May had even cried, and Tony had cracked that that must mean even she liked having him around.

 

And then he'd gone away. Tony had always lived in Malibu and made the effort to visit often---after all, a plane ride was really nothing for him and the Iron Man suit could get him to New York faster than his Cessna. 

 

But it was all different after New York. Tony had always been mostly just fun*. He’d greet Peter with a smile and joke, he’d wink at May and they’d be out the door, but after New York…

 

He was still Tony. Still fun. But his smile didn’t always reach his eyes, and his shoulders would slump a little, and he was twitchy. Always seemingly on alert, always combing a room as he entered it, making sure Peter was an arm's length behind but close enough to grab and run if the need arose. 

 

A large part of Peter warred against himself at what he thought was childish neediness. Tony was an _Avenger_. He was all over the planet at any given time, stopping bad guys and helping people.

 

The train finally arrived at his spot in Queens and he slipped out with the crowd. He stopped at Delmars for a sandwich for dinner and hurried back to the building he and May had lived in for as long as he remembered. He was so engrossed with something on his phone that he hadn't even noticed the black car parked just around the corner.

 

He entered their apartment, throwing his keys on the counter and letting his backpack slip to the floor. Peter was humming some non-descript song he'd heard that day, not paying any attention to anything else.

 

Which is why he almost threw his sandwich when a throat cleared across the room.

 

“What the….Mr. Stark! What are you...how did you, what are you doing here?”

 

Tony shrugged from his spot on the couch. “I was in the neighborhood. Thought I'd swing in.” He patted the spot next to him. “Come on over, sit a spell. Haven't seen you in a bit.”

 

“I, uh…” He gestured with his food. “I was actually gonna eat, and then I have like, a bunch of homework to do tonight…”

 

“I’m not hungry. Won’t take too long. Please,” Tony pointedly looked at the other end of the couch, then back up at Peter. “Sit.”

 

Peter eyed him warily. Tony rarely did anything without a reason, and given his behavior the past few years, Peter found it odd that he'd come by randomly in the middle of the week just for a chat. 

 

Peter timidly made his way over, sliding onto the edge of the cushion and settling his sandwich on the coffee table. He folded his hands in his lap, looking sheepishly up the man. “I’m just...I didn’t know you were coming over. You’ve just...kind of been away a lot.”

 

Tony's gaze narrowed. “Well, I’ve been a little busy with all the Iron Manning.”

 

Peter couldn’t help but roll his eyes a little. “Yeah, I noticed.” He leaned back against the couch, suddenly not as nervous. “So what have I done to warrant a visit? We got another charity dinner to go to?”

 

“You’ve gotten a bit snippy in your old age, Pete, not quite sure how I feel about that.” He scooted closer to the boy, leaning so he was facing him head-on. “How’ve you been?”

 

Peter eyed him warily. “Fine. School is good. Finals are in the next two weeks, so it’s been---”

 

“Yeah, I know. Studies going well? How’s your social life? You get out much?”

 

The hair on Peter’s arm stood straight up, an unsettling feeling developing in his stomach. He pulled the sleeve of his shirt down. “I mean, here and there, but you know school comes first.”

 

“That’s good to hear, good to hear,” Tony replied, turning his attention to his phone. He hit a couple of places, triggering a projection of a YouTube interface. Tony fixed Peter with a dour look as he hit play.

 

A figure in a red and blue sweatsuit swung through the air. The scene jumped to the same figure stopping a robbery. Another jump showed him swinging into an intersection just in time to stop a car from crashing into a bus. 

 

“I’d say that’s enough.” Tony clicked the phone and tossed it on the seat beside him, never taking his eyes off Peter, who raised his eyebrows.

 

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s been pretty exciting around here lately. You should come to visit more, you might catch a glimpse---.”

 

“You ever come across this guy?” 

 

Peter shifted uncomfortably. “N..no. He doesn’t seem that dangerous if you’re worried. I mean, he’s like helping people, and he’s not like...really even a bad guy…"

 

“I’m not worried. I know you can take care of yourself.” Tony replied in a measured tone. “And yeah he’s doing good things now, but believe me, sometimes good intentions can end badly. Can put yourself or others in danger. Not sure if you’ve been following the news but my team’s been running into that a little ourselves lately.”

 

Peter’s attitude faded a bit at that. Tony looked stressed. He looked...really tired. Peter actually tried to remember Tony didn’t seem completely exhausted and he couldn’t call it to mind. And He thought of Sokovia, and how Tony didn’t come by for days after the news and when he did, his face was full of shadows and sadness and---

 

And as much as there was a part of Peter---a big part, a humongous part of Peter that wanted to show Tony what he could do, to tell Tony about all of the people he had helped, he knew that if he did, Tony would tell him to stop and Peter didn’t want to do that. 

 

“Well, if I see him,” Peter said softly. “I’ll let him know you’re concerned.”

 

They sat in silence for a moment, staring at each other, as if waiting for the other to break. Finally, Tony sighed and let his head drop.

 

“Fine, well. I guess if you don’t know anything---”

 

“I don’t.” Peter crossed his arms. “Is that all you wanted?”

Tony’s blank expression twitched. “You sure got the surly teenager thing down, kid, what’s going on?”

 

Peter sighed deeply. “Nothing. It’s fine.” He looked quickly at Tony for a moment before shifting his gaze away again. “It’s just...I know we had the gala thing last month, but I just haven’t...seen you in a while.”

 

_Ouch._ Tony leaned forward, arms on his knees. “I know. I’m sorry. All the Avengers stuff, especially with what happened in Sokovia...”

 

“I thought you were done being Iron Man.” Peter sat up. “Not that, I think you _should_ but you said…”

 

“I know what I said.” Tony cut him off. “What, are you and Pepper teaming up on me now?”

 

Peter shook his head. “No! I mean, I think it’s still really cool that you’re Iron Man, but I just thought, if you weren’t…”

 

“Kid, slow down. It’s fine. You’re right.” He shifted. “How about you come over next weekend or after that, hang out in the lab for a bit? Nat actually asked about you the other day.”

 

Peter brightened. “Really? That would be awesome!”

 

Tony nodded. “Sure. I can show you a couple of the things we’re working on, it’ll be great.” He stood up. “Let’s plan on Saturday afternoon, see if May would be alright with you staying over.”

 

“Okay, yeah, cool! Thanks, Tony, I really appreciate you stopping by.” Peter got up from his spot on the couch and started to walk him to the door. Tony smiled as he stopped in front of the door, placing a hand on Peter’s shoulder and squeezing. 

 

“I’m really sorry I haven’t been around much. Things are crazy with the Avengers stuff, a lot’s been happening with the new compound we’re opening upstate…”

 

“It’s okay, I understand. I’m really excited to see everyone next week.”

 

“I’ll make sure to tell them.” Tony clapped him on the back. “Okay then, I’ll see you next weekend. Take care of yourself, do well in school, you said you had finals---?”

 

“End of the month. Then summer break until August!” He said with a grin. “I survived my first year of high school, Mr. Stark! I’m gonna be a sophomore.”

 

“Ugh.” Tony grabbed at his chest, wheezing. “How old am I?” He shook his head, reaching for the door handle. “Well, study hard. If you’re having a hard time with anything, bring it over next weekend and we can talk through it. And hey---” He pointed at Peter, his expression serious. “Be careful. Take care of yourself. If you need anything, you know you can call me, right?”

 

Peter smiled awkwardly. “Yes? Yeah, yeah I will.”

 

“Okay then. I’m actually going. I’ll see you next week, kiddo.”

 

And with that, he was out the door. Peter closed it behind him, a quizzical look on his face. 

 

What was all that about?

  
  


* * *

 

“Well, isn’t this just _great_.”   
  


Peter sat on the side of a building, pulling at ripped fabric and looking down at a gash in his lower abdomen. It wasn’t super deep, but it wasn’t just a scratch, and his blood soaked into the red zip hoodie that was part of his costume. He sighed.

 

He’d have to replace that. _Again_.

 

It wasn’t the first time he’d been hurt, but it was usually something that didn’t involve too much blood and nothing that really required medical attention. Bumps and bruises, getting punched in the face, all of that was minor, especially considering his healing power.

 

The window that had shattered, though, that kind of worried him. At least he had saved the guy that was trying to jump from the building across from it. But he’d webbed it at the wrong angle and found himself and the guy hurtling towards the giant pane of glass and if he hadn’t turned to shield the man from the impact---

 

Well. That possibility was infinitely worse.

 

He’d made sure the guy was on solid ground before webbing away, and it had been a few blocks before he’d even noticed the shard of glass stuck in his side. Panicked, he’d pulled it out and that, it turned out, was also not a Great Idea. Blood had poured from the wound and he worried, with the way the glass pane had shattered when he’d gone through it, that there may still be some pieces in there. 

 

So. Medical attention, as much as he wanted to pass on it, seemed like the best idea at the time. 

 

Peter considered that he basically had two options.

 

He could go forgo the hospital and go home. He winced at that idea; if May walked into his room and found him dressing a wound by himself, he was pretty sure he’d never recover. And he couldn’t go to a normal hospital, not like this; they’d only call her and then everyone would know about him. 

 

So that left…

 

He let his gaze carry to the tower in the middle of Manhattan, the A lit up in the darkness. He winced again.

 

But it was his best option. Tony would be pissed. Like, pissed was not even the right word. But he would be able to help him without having to tell Aunt May what had happened.

 

BY the time he got to the tower and landed on what he knew was Tony’s personal balcony, his stomach was in knots and his vision was starting to blur. He could hear his heart pounding in his head and as soon as he landed on the stone of the patio, he lurched over, barely getting his mask lifted in time before he retched up his dinner. 

 

And he stayed there, kneeling on one knee, trying to will the world to stop spinning, for the pain in his side to dissipate, until a door opened in front of him. Wincing, he looked up to find Tony standing there, an expectant and tired look on his face. 

 

“I honestly don’t even know where to start.”

 

Peter normally would have had a snarky retort, but in his current condition, he just hung his head. 

 

“Let me see it, Spider-boy.”

 

“You knew?”

 

“Of course I knew, why do you think I was over at your apartment last week?” Tony growled. “I swear to God, for someone so smart…” He shook his head with a huff, lifting Peter’s sweatshirt to look at the wound. Had Peter not been so out of it, he’d have noticed how his face paled.

 

“Good Christ, kid, you’re definitely gonna need stitches. FRIDAY, can you have Dr. Cho prep for this?” He stood up, and Peter made a motion to push himself up off the ground when he felt Tony grab him under his legs and behind his shoulder. 

 

Peter’s face burned at being manhandled like a child. “Mr. Stark---!”

 

“Uh uh, you deserve this.” He lifted the kid off the ground. “And don’t even _think_ this means you’re getting out of trouble for this, I’m definitely going to talk to May about it. Maybe not the Spider thing, but I’m gonna tell her something. Maybe that you just busted curfew, or that you were _drinking_.....”

 

Peter let his head fall back and he closed his eyes as he toned out the lecture all the way down to the med-bay.

 

He zoned out. He was so tired. And it was kind of nice to drift. Really nice actually. He really needed to sleep. And now that he was here, he was safe. Tony would take care of him. Tony always did.

 

“Kid?” The worry was there now, and he bit back a mewl of pain as Tony shifted him. “C’mon kiddo, I know you’re in a lot of pain, but you need to stay awake until I get you to the Doctor.”

 

“5 more minutes….”

 

“You’re hilarious.” Peter heard the sound of a door being opened and could smell antiseptic. It was bright wherever Tony put him down, bright and warm and soft. 

 

“Well, this isn’t gonna help me stay awake.” He mumbled, instinctively turning on his side to sleep. Tony’s hand found his shoulder and forced him to lay flat, and he whined childishly.

 

“Sorry, you should have thought about that before you went out playing vigilante in your pajamas.”

 

“They’re not pajamas.” Peter pouted.

 

“Well, it’s not a very good suit, I don’t know what to tell you.” Tony pulled his attention from the boy, and Peter opened his eyes, squinting into the light as a woman walked up to his bedside. “Hey Doc.”

 

“Hello, Mr. Stark.” She smiled down at Peter. “And this must be Spiderman.”

 

“He is also a very dumb teenager who got himself stabbed while crime fighting.” Tony gestured to his side. “A couple of inches long, his sweatshirt has soaked up most of the blood, I think it’ll probably need to be cleaned out too.”

 

“Not stabbed,” Peter objected weakly, glaring up at Tony for a moment before turning his attention to the doctor. “I went through a window and a piece got stuck in me.”

 

Tony made a noise, “Oh, well, that’s _much_ better.”   
  


Dr. Cho frowned as she lifted up the fabric. “Cleaning it out is a must then, who knows how clean it was or if there’s any additional debris in there.” She looked at the boys face. “Peter, I’m gonna examine it real quick, so you’re probably gonna be in a bit of pain, I’m sorry. I’ll plan on giving you a local before starting to clean it out though, can you tell me a little bit about yourself so I know what I’m working with?”

 

“Well,” Peter began, “I’m a Leo…”

 

“Not funny, kid.” Tony snapped. “Don’t be a smartass to people who are trying to help you. Just because I’m here doesn’t mean you get to be sarcastic to everyone.” He sighed deeply. “Just...like, we’ll delve more into this whole thing later, but for the immediate period, anything that will affect you. Allergies to medication, stuff about whatever has made you like this that might affect her treating you.”

 

Peter appeared well admonished. “I’m sorry, Dr. Cho, I was just trying to lighten the mood.”

 

She smiled at him. “It’s alright Peter. “ She’d pulled on gloves by now and lifted his shirt again, getting closer to the wound and pressed her hands to his skin. He hissed in pain and grabbed out for Tony, who took his hand and squeezed. 

 

“You’re okay, I’m here buddy. Now, come on. Anything that she needs to know.”

 

“Um...yeah um. I don’t think I’m allergic to any pain stuff. I used to be allergic to penicillin, but whatever happened to me..it fixed my asthma and my eyesight, so I don’t know if the allergies are still a thing. Um…” He winced as she pulled at the skin around the wound. “My abilities...part of it is my metabolism is crazy fast now. I heal a lot faster than I did before. Not sure if that’s important.”

 

“It is. I’ll give you a little more lidocaine than normal, I don’t want it wearing off while we’re digging in there. And if you heal faster, that means we gotta get going and clean that out. If it closes up dirty, you could be facing an infection. I’d like to avoid that, especially with the uncertainty around your allergies,” She let the shirt drop. “I’m gonna prep for that. Mr. Stark, can you help him get his shirt off?”

 

“Absolutely. C’mon kiddo, sit up.”

 

Peter grimaced through the entire process, though the look on Tony’s face when he removed the shirt almost made him laugh.

 

“What?”

 

“You’re…” Tony shook his head. “What, do you live in the gym now?”

 

At that, Peter did laugh. “Another byproduct of the powers.”

 

Tony pointed at him as he laid back down on the hospital bed, his brows raising. “We are definitely talking about this when she’s done.”

 

It didn’t take long for Dr. Cho to work. She gave him a few shots to numb his side and told him if he started to feel anything* to let them know so she could give him more. She was done in less than an hour.

 

“Keep the site clean,” She directed as she finished up. She pulled off her gloves with a snap. “Don’t do anything strenuous that’ll pop the stitches, so no patrolling until it’s completely healed. How long do you think it’ll take for that to happen, given your abilities?”

 

He shrugged. “Honestly, it may be fine by tomorrow afternoon. I can let you know…”

 

“Well, one, you’re staying the night.” Tony began. “So she’ll take a look before I take you home. Secondly, are you serious?”

 

“It’s fascinating.” The doctor chimed in. “I would also really like to know what happened here if you wanted to share later. For now, I’ll leave you two for the night. Make sure to come to find me tomorrow before you leave.”   
  


Peter nodded. “Thank you, Doctor Cho.” 

 

He winced as he shifted on the table. Tony helped him down and walked with him back to his floor, where he directed Peter to the spare room he stayed in so often. Tony let him know that he had already called May and checked with her to make sure it was alright he stayed the night, saying Peter had stopped by to ask a question and they’d gotten caught up talking about some science thing or another.

 

“You’re gonna have to come up with better alibis,” Tony told him. “Your aunt is sharp, kid, and if you don’t want her burying you under your apartment building, you’re either gonna have to be straight with her or get better at lying. Not that I condone that. For the record.”

 

Peter rolled his eyes. He had changed into some spare sweatpants and a t-shirt he kept there, sitting carefully on the couch. “Noted.”

 

Tony looked sympathetic. He walked over to the couch and gave the kid a can of soda before settling in on the opposite side of the couch. “Feeling okay?”

 

“Sore,” Peter answered. “Lidocaine has worn off, so it’s a little tender. It’ll be fine though, I’ve had worse.”

 

Tony sat up, alarmed. “What? When?”

 

“I mean, not like, stabby worse. But when I was first getting the hang of the web-shooters, I had a couple of not so fun falls.”

 

“I want to take a look at those later as well. I was able to grab some it from one of your escapades before it dissolved, it’s pretty impressive kid.” Tony ran his hands over his face with a deep, audible sigh. “Okay, from the top. What the hell happened to you?”

 

“Well, it started on a class field trip to OsCorp….”

 

Tony rolled his eyes witheringly, “Of course it did. Should’ve seen that coming.”

 

“Are you done? Can I finish?”

 

Tony rolled his hand in a “proceed” type gesture, and Peter continued, going into detail about the spider bite and the subsequent illness---at which point, Tony interrupted again to admonish him for not calling him. 

 

“I thought it was a bad flu! It wasn’t until my hand started sticking to stuff that I knew I was in trouble.”

 

“Fine. So what else has it affected?”

 

“Well,” Peter mused. “My senses are all heightened. Like, everything is really bright and sharp and it took forever to figure out how to handle that. And you saw my body, it was like any ounce of fat i had evaporated overnight.” He chewed on his cheek. “Oh! And I have like this...spider sense thing, like a tingly alarm whenever there’s danger around. It’s kind of cool.”

 

Tony watched him quietly, seemingly processing everything Peter was saying. “And May doesn’t know?”

 

Peter picked up on his tone. “You can’t tell her, she would freak out, Tony! She would...she’d tell me I couldn’t do it anymore and I don’t want to upset her…”

 

“Because you would just, what? Ignore her?” Tony tilted his head to the side. “Ignore how she would feel about all this?”

 

Peter’s tongue felt thick in his mouth. “I can’t do anything about...what happened to me. And with how I am now...if someone gets hurt, and I can do these things? If I can help people, and I don’t?” Peter shrugged. “I just feel like that’s on me. That’s just another kid or husband or wife that loses that person in their life, and I just…” He looked down at his feet. “I don’t want that to happen.”

 

Tony expression softened as he considered what Peter was saying. Considered what Peter really meant. Considered that Peter might be thinking about what might have been had there been someone like Peter or Tony on that plane, or in that bodega, so many years ago. 

 

“Mmhmm. Okay so first off---that sweatsuit? It’s done. I want to show you something.” He gestured for Peter to follow him.

 

They went to the elevator and took it to Tony’s lab. They walked over to what looked to be a wall until Tony put his hand on a panel and it opened up to reveal a bunch of shelves. From one, he pulled a case.

 

“I was planning on waiting for this, for the right time, but all those stitches means it’s the right time now.” He nodded towards the case. “Open it.”

 

Peter looked wary, but he did as he was told. He jumped back as it spring-loaded and popped open, and it took a second for what Peter was seeing to register. When it did, he began to jump up and down, prompting Tony to hold him in place and remind him of Dr. Cho’s instructions. It didn’t seem to help any. 

 

“Oh my god, Tony is that…? Holy Shit!”

 

“I hate that you’re making me sound like Cap, but language kiddo, I don’t need to give May any more reasons to dislike me.”

 

Peter snorted. “May loves you, you know that.” He replied, reaching for the suit. He picked it up, rubbing it, examining it. “This is so thin…”

 

Tony plucked the mask from the case. “Here. Put this on. And you do not get to try the whole thing out until that wound heals.”

 

“For sure, absolutely.” And he slid the mask on as he was told. As soon as it was settled, all sorts of things lit up.

 

“Oh my god, Tony, this is literally the coolest thing I have ever seen.”

 

“I reserve the right to take this back if I feel like you’re misusing it.” He warned. “It has several systems built into it to keep you safer. And full disclosure, it has a tracker so if something does happen, I can find out where you are. Do not mess with the suit in any way, you understand me?”

 

“Yes sir, totally, 100%.” He threw his arms around Tony. “Thank you so much for this, Tony. I knew you’d take care of me."

 

“Yeah,” Tony answered blandly. “That must be why you were so forthcoming about the whole thing.”

 

Peter flushed, pulling back. “I thought you’d tell me to stop.”

 

“I would have.” Tony shot back. “But. I know once you’ve made up your mind, it’s hard to change it. And I’d rather have you in something of mine than nothing at all.” He put his hand on his shoulder. “Please, please be careful, Pete. I do not want to have a conversation with May that ends with me telling her you may not be coming home.”

 

“I will, I promise, I totally will.” He stepped back, letting himself focus on what he was looking at in the mask. The interface identified Tony Stark, all his essential vitals, all of Peter’s essential vitals, the status of the suit and a whole bunch of other things Peter couldn’t even begin to understand. “Mr. Stark, this is so cool.”

 

“You’re welcome.” Tony began to walk back towards the entrance of the lab, a tap on Peter’s shoulders as a sign for him to follow. “Now. I think it may be a good idea if you come over a couple of times a month, maybe every other week and we can make sure the suit is working. And I want you to stay in your lane---that means nothing outside of what you’ve been doing so far, you got it?”

 

“Sure, Mr. Stark,” Peter said, but his voice was distracted and Tony rolled his eyes, knowing he’d have to go all of this again with him in the morning. He grabbed at the mask, pulling it from Peter’s face. 

 

“ _Hey_. I’m serious, listen to me.” He grabbed Peter’s shoulder, forcing him to face him.  “Talk to May, tell her we’re doing, like, a summer internship program or something. A couple of times a month, you spend a few hours with me in the lab. Make sure she’s okay with it.”

 

“I will, I will,” Peter frowned, shrugging him off. “She’ll be completely cool with it, you know how much she works, she probably won’t even notice.” He made a move for the mask and Tony held it just out of reach. Peter caught the thoughtful look on Tony’s face and his frown deepened. “What?”   
  


“Nothing,” Tony said, clearing his throat and readjusting his stance. He tossed the mask at the boy. “You’re just...you’ve grown up a lot.”

 

“Yeah, well, that happens with time and stuff.” He caught the mask, but he didn’t pull it back over his face. “It’s not a big deal, Tony. I know you’re busy.”

 

“I know,” Tony said softly, not dropping his gaze. “It’s just...I mean I’ve still seen you a whole bunch, I feel like, but…”

 

Peter didn’t know about that; three times a year, one where they really didn’t get to _be_  themselves, wasn’t exactly a whole bunch, but he wasn’t gonna press the issue. Instead, he just grinned. “Maybe the whole superhero-ing has matured me. Wise beyond my years.”

 

That seemed to break him. Tony snorted and rolled his eyes. “And there he is. C’mere.” He wrapped his arm around Peter’s shoulder, hugging him closer. “Okay, well, did you eat tonight? I know it’s late, but I don’t know what your habits are. I’d prefer you to get something in your stomach before you go down. There’s some pizza in the fridge to heat up?”

 

_Go down_. Like he was a toddler. Peter consciously had to stop from rolling his eyes. “Mmm, do you have the new Will Ferrell movie?”

 

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Tony said, not too nonchalant. “How about you go heat us up a few slices and I’ll get the movie ready?”

 

* * *

 

“Well. That’s two hours of my life I’ll never get back. That is the last time, kid, that you get to---”

 

Tony looked over to where the boy was seated and the words died in his throat. Peter’s chair was reclined and the teenager was stretched out, one leg dangling from the side, an arm was thrown up behind him, his mouth open as he breathed, deeply asleep. Tony could only imagine how tiring his patrols were, especially when one was almost mortally wounded. 

 

He considered, only for a moment, picking the kid up and taking him to his room. But Tony had already done that tonight, and his back was starting ache at the thought of it. Instead, he grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and draped it over the kid. He rested a hand gently on the boy's hair to check and see how deeply he was sleeping; Peter rubbed his face against the couch, muttering something about rabbits before flopping to the other side and making a snuffling noise against the cushion. Good enough for Tony.

 

The lights shut off as he walked down the hall towards his room and Tony was satisfied to hear the distant sounds of sleep from the kid. He made it to his room, the lights coming on at the motion and he sat on his bed with a heavy sigh. 

 

“FRI, let me know if the kid gets up in the middle of the night and needs something, he may be a little disoriented and I don’t need him ripping out those stitches.”

 

“Sure thing, Boss.”

 

Thank god Pepper was out of town on business. He fiddled with his watch and set it on the nightstand before rubbing his face with a soft groan.

 

He had, for lack of a better term, rather stepped in it.

 

He’d only recently figured out what Peter was doing. And of course, that introduced a host of other questions---how, when, where, _why_. He’d had only a minor panic attack when FRIDAY had told him who the suspected vigilante was and truth be told, having Peter show up here, trusting him, it was the first time he’d felt good about this particular concern in weeks.

 

It was a short reprieve because now he had to do something else.

 

Now he had to figure out how he was going to lie to one of his closest friends. _Multiple,_ of his closest friends.

 

He groaned again, lying back in bed, not bothering to change for bed. “FRI, cut the lights please, I think I’m getting a migraine.”

The AI didn’t even bother responding, other than to dim the lights to a soft level. Tony brought an arm to his face and over his eyes. 

 

His initial plan had been to tell Peter he could not do this. It had been to talk to him first and then if Peter refused, that he would go to May. But Peter hadn’t taken the bait last week. He had _hoped_ he would, and Tony had considered pressing harder and getting the kid to crack under the pressure, but he didn’t want to press so hard that Peter completely disregarded him or wouldn't come to him in the future. He just figured he’d need another way to catch him in the act.

 

Peter showing up on his balcony with a wound in his side had never honestly occurred to him.

 

He was pretty satisfied with how he played it. The immediate sight of the younger man had turned his blood ice cold and his breath had caught in his chest. By the time he opened the balcony door, he had willed himself calm enough to play it off as a mild annoyance and good or bad, Peter had seemed too out of it to notice that the wound had alarmed him. 

 

But then realizing this wasn’t just a normal Peter he was dealing with…; he had suspected that something had happened to spurn Peter to do this, to take on the mantle of a local superhero, and he had been worried, for more than a moment, that it had been some kind of emulation of himself. Arrogant, perhaps, but Peter hadn’t been quiet about how he felt about Tony being Iron Man and that had been Tony’s primary motivation to put an end to it.

 

He had begun the suit before he’d realized who the person under the hoodie was. 

 

And then to find out that Peter was in fact, enhanced, though? That changed it a bit. 

 

It was evident to Tony that Peter wasn’t going to stop. That had probably been a pipe dream to begin with, but Peter having these abilities limited what Tony could do to _make_ him stop. So the best thing Tony _could do_ was to give him the suit...right? Better in something Tony had made than nothing at all. And that hoodie and sweatpants combination _was_ nothing, cheap and baggy, more likely to get him hurt in the end than make him more resilient and protect him.

 

And that was the priority.  Protection. But now he had promised Peter he wouldn’t tell May and that presented a whole host of other issues.

 

How was he going to lie to the person who had entrusted him with the thing she cared about most in the world?   
  


He decided he wasn’t going to lie outright; if May somehow caught on to what Peter was doing and ended up confronting Tony, he would handle it, but he wouldn’t _lie_. Instead, he’d just...massage the truth a little. This _would_ be an official Stark Internship, or at least it would become that. He’d see about getting the kid some credit for their time in the lab, and he’d be able to keep tabs on Peter’s activities during his patrols.

 

And if it meant Tony getting to spend more time with Peter, well then, wasn’t that just a happy coincidence?

 

The kid had been right about how little they’d seen of each other. After Steve and Natasha had pulled the rug back from S.H.I.E.L.D and the roaches had scattered, their workload increased tenfold. Tony’s genuine effort to stay distant was hamstrung by the entire incident and when Sokovia had happened over the winter, everything had gotten significantly more complicated. He had told Steve he was going to try and stop, but the truth was…

 

He didn’t _want_ to stop.

 

Ultron had been his mistake. He’d lost JARVIS and now he was up to building more contingencies, and the threat from New York still lingered in his brain. Everything had gotten just so complicated, and somewhere in the murkiness, spending time with Peter had just taken a backseat. He wasn’t even sure where all the time went, and he was a little ashamed to admit it.

 

But now that Peter was inserting himself into it a little more, it would be irresponsible of Tony not to get directly involved. Surely, May would understand that at least. 

 

It would be more difficult dealing with Pepper. She wouldn’t have a problem with the internship---on the contrary, Pepper had more than once pointed out that they hadn’t seen Peter or May in some time---but if she realized what he was doing in relation to Spiderman….

 

He hands had begun to tremble. He knew he was already on thin ice with her as it were. She was not at all happy about what had happened with Ultron and had been very close to leaving him in its wake---she’d stayed away for weeks, and had barely spoken to him in the immediate aftermath. When she had come home after copious amounts of his begging, she warned him that this had to be it, that Sokovia had to be the last, but Tony could keep himself from making improvements to his own and Rhodey’s suits. Pepper was tolerant but he could tell she was barely restraining herself.

 

If she found out about Peter, she would be furious. But Tony genuinely didn’t know what else he was supposed to do. None of them would be able to stop Peter from doing this, and Peter wasn’t going to stop---the kid was a good kid, he always wanted to help and that sort of personality did not jive well with sitting on the sidelines when you had an ability to make a difference. Peter had already made that clear tonight that it wasn’t what he was gonna do.

  
And so he had to keep him safe. This was the best way to do that. 

 

“Sir, it appears you’re having difficulties falling asleep. Would you like me to play some soft ambient sounds to help settle your mind?”

 

Tony sighed, looking up at his watch. Almost 2 am. He nodded from his prone position. “Please do FRI. Can you shut the lights off all the way while you’re at it?” He paused. “Is the kid still okay?”

 

“Peter is sleeping soundly, aside from the occasional mention of rabbits in his sleep, Mr. Stark.”

 

Tony cough a quiet laugh. “That’s fine, FRI, thank you for keeping an ear out. Let’s go ahead with the ocean waves, hm? Bring me back a little bit of home should help.”

 

“Absolutely, sir.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> like i noted on the other story i posted tonight: with all the endgame stuff, i've been engaging a little more where i lurk in the irondad fandom on tumblr, so if you see a [cattlaydee](http://cattlaydee.tumblr.com) like or i send you a message, that'd be me. i don't really engage too much about fic on my blog and it's been forever since i have but i'm always down for some screaming about faves and i think i may need it these next couple weeks lol


End file.
